Roar Cat Reads

Tag: summer camp

  • Flamer by Mike Curato

    Flamer by Mike Curato

    Genre | YA Graphic Novel
    Page #s | 368
    Publishing Date | September 2020

    Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in Flamer, his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love.

    I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.

    I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.

    It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone’s going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can’t stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

    Goodreads

    Using spare colors with an inviting cartoon aesthetic, Curato has created a beautiful graphic novel about a young boy on the cusp of adolescence who struggles to accept his attraction to boys during a Boy Scouts summer camp. Occasionally haunting but ultimately uplifting, I adored this book and want everyone to read it.

    This is Aiden’s last summer before high school, and he wants his camp experience to be a fun, safe space for him to be fully himself. Unfortunately, he is at camp with a bunch of boys, and they throw insults and gay slurs at each other with abandon. Curato captures these microaggressions with nuance, showing how they hit differently for someone who worries he actually IS gay while also showing how good it can feel to turn the tables and call a bully a f*****.

    Although this is a quick read, the length of the novel allows us to get a full sense of Aiden’s life. The main action takes place during summer camp, but we get flashbacks to his family, his school, and his church that better inform what he is experiencing in the present day as he participates in orienteering, archery, and basket weaving.

    Aiden is such a cute boy who can’t, and doesn’t want to, hide his feminine side despite being very in the closet when it comes to accepting his attraction to bunkmate Elias. Every night he dreams of the two of them together. These were my favorite sections of the book, as he imagines the pair of them as Frodo and Sam or Wolverine and Jean Grey, in an adorable fantasy that increasingly turns dark as he tries to push the feelings aside.

    The story culminates in a dark moment that might be triggering for some readers, though the scene is handled with care. The fires that Aiden worries will engulf himself ultimately manifest as his own life energy, a fire full of strength and vitality that cannot be put out. It’s a lovely book, drawn with skill and passion, that should be on the shelf of every school library.

    Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

    It’s great for readers of all ages, but this is a book to prioritize giving to young queer kids who will see themselves in Aiden.

    Rating: 5 out of 5.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

    Find more books nominated for Lambda Literary Awards reviewed here.

  • Camp by L.C. Rosen

    Camp by L.C. Rosen

    From the author of the acclaimed Jack of Hearts (and other parts) comes a sweet and sharp screwball comedy that critiques the culture of toxic masculinity within the queer community.

    Sixteen-year-old Randy Kapplehoff loves spending the summer at Camp Outland, a camp for queer teens. It’s where he met his best friends. It’s where he takes to the stage in the big musical. And it’s where he fell for Hudson Aaronson-Lim – who’s only into straight-acting guys and barely knows not-at-all-straight-acting Randy even exists.

    This year, though, it’s going to be different. Randy has reinvented himself as ‘Del’ – buff, masculine, and on the market. Even if it means giving up show tunes, nail polish, and his unicorn bedsheets, he’s determined to get Hudson to fall for him.

    But as he and Hudson grow closer, Randy has to ask himself how much is he willing to change for love. And is it really love anyway, if Hudson doesn’t know who he truly is?

    Goodreads

    Camp is a delightful and ridiculous book about a queer summer camp where kids can live their best and horniest lives. We should all be so lucky as to attend Camp Outland, where participants and counselors can thrive in a safe and supportive environment.

    The plot of this book hinges on an objectively terrible idea: Randy remakes himself into butch gay guy Del in order to woo “masc4masc” hunk Hudson. I thought it would be a simple “don’t change yourself for someone, you’ll realize they aren’t worth it!” story, so I was pleasantly surprised when Rosen took a more nuanced approach. Randy discovers he likes some of the more athletic events that he joins for Hudson, and it turns out he had really good taste in crushing on the camp hottie all these years. However, he has to lose some essential pieces of himself (theater class, Unicorn Trampocalypse nail polish) along the way, which is increasingly difficult to manage.

    While Randy learns what it means to expand one’s interests while remaining true to yourself (and others), Hudson confronts his internalized homophobia. I really liked his character; an encouraging and kind dude whose parents really did a number on him. Even within a utopia like their summer camp, it felt realistic that people would still have issues to work through.

    Of course, a plot about a boy pretending to be someone else depends upon a fundamental suspension of disbelief – Hudson doesn’t recognize a fellow camp attender even though literally everyone else does, and the entire camp (even adults!!) go along with Randy’s plot to pretend that he is new. Ridiculous! But so much fun.

    Perhaps even more than the romance, Randy’s relationships with his besties deserve a shout out. George (emotive Middle Eastern bear-to-be) and Ashleigh (goth-lite demisexual lesbian) are simultaneously annoyed and impressed with Randy’s plan. As much as they exist to support and conflict with Randy’s narrative, they each get subplots and romances of their own. I would 100% read another book from one of their perspectives.

    I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out how refreshingly sex-positive this book is. The teens are panting after each other, and rather than panicking about it, the counselors make sure the resources for safe sex are readily available.

    I had such a fun time reading this book, and L.C. Rosen has become one of my must-read authors!

    Rating: 5 out of 5.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

    Find more books nominated for Lambda Literary Awards reviewed here!